Web Apps

A Brief History of the iOS App Store and the Rise of the Mobile App

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 3, 2018

One of the biggest things to come out of the smartphone revolution is the rise of the mobile app. Before Apple, Google and the rest all set about creating their own on-device app stores. Users were left to live a life of boring apps that needed installing via a memory stick or, in the case of some smartphone operating systems, the downloading of executables that needed to be installed manually after fighting through a selection of security issues. Windows Mobile, I'm looking at you.

Apple, along with Research in Motion, began to change all that with a little help from Google. Nokia also got in on the act, before Microsoft finally began to get things right with Windows Phone 7. Apps, as we have all learned over the last few years, sell smartphones. Now, they also sell tablets.

This is all a far cry from Apple's early stance on an 'app store' when it released the iPhone along with its little brother, the original iPod touch...

How to See Facebook Timelines on Your iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Back in September of this year Facebook held its F8 developer conference. Like Apple's WWDC event, Facebook uses F8 to announce new features and services. The big hit of this year's conference was the company's new Timeline feature.

Facebook Timelines allows you to see all of a user's content on the social networking site in one convenient stream. We've already shown you how to access the feature on the iPad, and now we're going to tell you how to see it on the iPhone.

Create Your Own Fake Siri Conversations with iFakeSiri

Oliver Haslam ∙ November 26, 2011

Since Siri is turning into the biggest thing to hit the internet since cats playing pianos, it was probably inevitable that someone would get around to making an easy way to fake Siri screenshots, and it has finally happened.

By offering a simple interface, the iFakeSiri web app allows self-professed comedians to enter their imaginary Siri conversations and have a fake screenshot created. This is perfect for, say, anyone that needs to write blog posts about Apple's fancy assistant technology!

YouTube Testing New Mobile Layout, Try it Out Now

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

It seems like giving your website a makeover is the thing to do these days. Hot on the heels of the Facebook changes we saw rollout last week, reports are coming in today that YouTube has some major plans to overhaul its site's appearance as well.

While you've likely already seen the new design on YouTube's webpage, the changes are now making their way into the mobile app. The new interface is a lot different than the previous design, and although it's still being tested, you can try it out today...

Financial Times Web App More Popular Than Native Version

Sébastien Page ∙ September 24, 2011

The Financial Times deliberately pulled its own app from the App Store a few months ago to focus on its own HTML 5 web app, through which the company could sell subscription to their digital content without having to play by Apple's rules.

And this seems to have paid off! Today, the newspaper reports that over 700,000 persons use their web app, drawing more traffic than the native version that was sold through the App Store...

Dropbox Gets an iOS-Optimized Web App Update with Sharing and Search

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 3, 2018

File syncing supremo Dropbox has given its mobile web app a lick of paint, thanks to a little help from one of the team's interns. The new web interface has more than a little bit of iOS about it, and it obviously works fine with all mobile platforms, such as, Android and Windows Phone 7.

The first update to the web app in around three years has some new features added to the mix, bringing search functionality and sharing options that don't currently exist in the App Store app...

Google Launches iOS Web App For Google Music

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Oh Google, you so crazy! After leaving us iPhone users out in the cold while our Android-toting brethren run around streaming their music from this thing they like to call 'the cloud' (it's a bit like iCloud, I'm told!) you finally decide to bring the Google Music circus to iOS.

In typical Google fashion, things have been implemented a little differently than how we expected. Google Music for iOS isn't a native app, but rather a web app. And it's pretty darn good one...

Apple Planning to Launch Mobile Web App for Online Store

Alex Heath ∙ August 16, 2011

Have you tried Apple's official Apple Store app? It's been available for free in the App Store for months, and it's a great tool for browsing Apple's online store and scheduling appointments at your local Apple retail store.

Apparently, Apple is planning to launch a mobile web app for its online store experience. This web app would presumably be based on HTML5, and it's expected to roll out for users next year.

Amazon Launches Kindle Cloud Reader

Oliver Haslam ∙ August 10, 2011

Here's one giant kick in the teeth for Apple and its App Store policies.

Amazon has today launched its new Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader web app, which offers the full Kindle library as an HTML web page, offering the ability to read, and, more importantly, buy books from your browser. That's more important because it means Amazon no longer has to abide by Apple's laws for the selling of content inside an iOS app.

It also means Apple loses out on 30% of the revenue...

Walmart’s “Vudu” Bypasses the App Store and Releases a Web App

Sébastien Page ∙ August 10, 2011

Walmart's video streaming service Vudu's got a new app. But don't look for it in the App Store because you won't find it there. Instead, Vudu is a web app that can be accessed directly from your browser.

Being unwilling to play Apple's revenue sharing game, Vudu decided that going the browser way was going to be a better move, allowing them to save that 30% Apple collects from everything sold in the App Store...

appMobi Lets Developers Code HTML 5 Apps for Submitting to the App Store

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated June 25, 2016

Google's Chrome web-based app store received a new entry this week, and believe it or not, it does have a link to the world of iOS.

The newly released appMobi is a web app designed to help developers to code HTML 5 web apps, but it also packs a sucker punch that we didn't see coming. If after writing your HTML 5 app, you decide you'd like to submit it as a native iOS app to Apple's App Store, then appMobi will let you do that, too...